This is a continuation of the the posts I did the other day (post 1 & 2 of 3). As in the other posts, all images were shot with the Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm f4.0 PRO (600mm full frame equivalent) and the OM-D E-M1 & OM-D E-M5 MkII.
A few months ago I traveled to the jungles of Panama & Costa Rica with the primary intent of trying out the new Olympus M.Zuiko 300mm f4.0 PRO lens (equivalent to 600mm full frame). I decided to break the trip into 3 posts. The first one being Fauna, the second one will be Flora and the last one will be Patterns. 80% of the images were shot with the OM-D E-M1 and the remaining ones were shot with the OM-D E-M5 MkII. The ISO’s averaged between 1,000 and 5,000. I was not disappointed with the results, however, I’ll let you be the judge.
I recently had the pleasure to lead a workshop with Creve Coure Camera which was sponsored by Olympus at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson, MO. The following images were taken during the workshop. This was my first experience at this location. I have photographed the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia many times, so I was somewhat familiar with what to expect. There were many similarities, but there were equally as many differences. One of the differences was that this facility had it’s own gas chamber. I must admit, I had a very eerie feeling in here. The prison operated from 1836 – 2004. Many of the images were processed in-camera with a monochromatic filter and a couple of them in HDR. The equipment I used was the Olympus PEN-F paired with the M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Fisheye PRO & the OM-D E-M5 MkII paired with the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO (an amazing combination).
The following images are a collection of my perception of the life and stories of the Allentown Fair. In order to capture these images, it required me to first start a dialog with my subjects, and then after gaining their trust, I would take the picture. This requires one to step out of there comfort zone and try to become a small part of the “culture”. All of the images were shot handheld with the Olympus PEN-F and in many cases the exposures were in excess of a half of a second. I was only able to accomplish this because of the Olympus built in image stabilization system. One additional bonus from this shoot, is that it happened to be the day KISS performed, which provided some additional characters for the evening.
A few weeks ago I did a couple photo-walks & presentations for Creve Coure Camera in St. Louis. The event was sponsored by Olympus. The first photo-walk was at the Cathedral Basilica. The following images are from the day’s shoot. I have traveled a lot domestically/overseas and have photographed my share of Cathedral/Churches and this one is at the very top of the list, as far as beauty and wow factor. The cathedral was built over a 100 years ago and was designated a basilica in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.
I always enjoy photographing car shows and this weekend was no exception. I don’t pretend to know a lot about cars, but I do enjoy capturing their various graphic elements. My friend Dave and I had shot this event a couple of years ago and thought it would be fun to check it out again. Many of these images were straight out of the camera using using the Olympus OM-D E-M5 MkII “Dramatic Tone” filter. Most of these images were shot with one of my favorite lenses, the M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm f2.8 PRO.
A few weeks ago I traveled to New York with my friend and fellow Olympus Trailblazer Alex McClure. Our plan was to photograph the city from Brooklyn. We had done this back in November from the area around the bridges, however, we ran out of time to get shots from the this location (in front of the piers). This time, when we arrived at this location, we were greeted with a beautiful evening and a wonderful sky. I had two camera bodies with me and I used both of them for the following images (The Olympus OM-D E-M5 MarkII and the PEN-F). After we photographed the city skyline we walked up to and over the Brooklyn Bridge. The remainder of the images were from the bridge. The one with the car headlights and taillights was done in “Live Composite” mode.
On Sunday, June 12, 2016 Bogert’s Covered Bridge celebrated its 175 Anniversary. Bogert’s is located in the Lehigh Parkway which is part of the Allentown, PA city parks. This is a location I enjoy shooting. There were many groups present for the celebration. I especially enjoyed the reenactors. I was fortunate to have met Gen. U.S. Grant (aka Ken Serfass), President Abraham Lincoln (aka Rich Neely) and Fife player (aka Chris Zimmerman). These three gentlemen were a pleasure to photograph. All images were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II with the 12-40mm f2.8 Pro or the 7-14mm f2.8 Pro lens.